Early in the morning, it was still raining outside, and it was gray outside the window. At this moment in the south, many places are soaked in flood water. At the beginning of the new year 2020, disasters continued one after another. Wildfires are spreading, plagues are raging, locusts are infested, floods are flooding... The whole world is in dire straits. The ecological crisis revealed by the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" is approaching us step by step.
In the film, Al Gore tells us how the continued destruction of the ecology by humans is causing the global temperature to rise, and the resulting series of disasters. He has traveled to many countries and given thousands of speeches, telling people over and over again about the serious problems we face, trying to call on people to go green and avoid a tragic end for our children and grandchildren. However, fourteen years on, instead of making the planet a better place, we have put ourselves in crisis faster.
The future disaster is too far away, and the desires that are close at hand are the most important things. We want to live in spacious and bright houses, the more the better; we want to drive cars that show our identity, the more expensive the better; we need a wide variety of goods to fill our houses, and delicious delicacies to fill Our stomachs; we see what our neighbors have and want to have, and we want to buy what we see live on our mobile phones... Desire is like a bottomless black hole, with a bloody mouth wide open, Need more and more external things to fill, never satisfied. Behind the desire and greed, there are fearful souls, who can only gain a little peace of mind by constantly grabbing and possessing them. We build, we produce, we mine, we chop... without ever asking if we really need it. When there is a flood, the dikes are blocked; when the plague comes, the vaccine is developed; when the fire is on, the firefighters go to extinguish it... One crisis has been extinguished, and another crisis has come again. When one can no longer control it by himself At that time, a bigger disaster came like a beast, pushing us little by little to the brink of destruction.
Fear drives greed, and greed drives greed; fear drives control, and control brings destruction. The cycle of life is a cycle that never gets out of the way. How can we live in harmony with all things in the universe and restore our once thriving common home? What kind of spirit do we have to live with so that we can get rid of reincarnation and return to our original heart? The real story told in the documentary "The Biggest Little Farm" is like a small experiment, finding a way to simplify the complex through step-by-step exploration and persistence, bringing us a glimmer of hope.
Food blogger Molly's dream is to build a farm in harmony with nature. Her husband, wildlife photographer John, also thinks they can create a meaningful life together on the farm, but they haven't been able to find any way to make it happen. It was until they met the stray dog Todd. They promised Todd that their home would be his last home. But Todd kept yelling when they were out and was tipped off by neighbours, who gave them a month to move out of the apartment. If you rent another apartment, you will still face the same problem. Out of their commitment to Todd, they decided to start the farm program immediately, so that Todd could run around the farm as he wanted.
Despite having nothing and being considered crazy by their friends, they set out to act. Read professional books, consult farmers, draft business plans, find investors, and invite Alen, the world's top traditional agricultural consultant, to start a small miracle on a 1,200-acre wasteland with compacted soil and a single ecology. Todd the puppy brings courage to Molly and John, love for Todd dispels their fear of the unknown, determination and action lead them on the journey of their dreams.
Their goal is to create a farm that mimics the workings of natural ecosystems and self-regulates through diversification. Pumping groundwater to irrigate the land, pulling out devil weeds, building high-temperature composting equipment... Half a year has passed, and the year's budget has been spent, but no crop has been planted. Alen said, "If you are right, not fast, the redo will be more expensive." Yes, the soil is alive, there is no rush, it takes patience and time to restore its vitality.
They planted a large number of new trees and native plants, transformed gardens, sowed cover crops, bought chickens, ducks, cattle and sheep, and welcomed the birth of seventeen little pigs... More than 200 kinds of animals and plants in 1,200 acres symbiotic on the farm. Cover crops bring in fertile land, sheep flocks eat off excess crops, and manure nourishes the land. They believe in what Alen said, diverse species will eventually reduce complexity. The flywheel has started to spin, and the farm is starting to become self-regulating and self-sustaining. They are always looking for opportunities to integrate so that everything can live in harmony.
By the third year, it had become paradise. Bees gather in swarms, birds fly by in the air, wild animals arrive one after another, and everything is full of life. However, this also seems to bring more trouble, and how to balance the respective needs of farm and wild animals has become a bigger problem.
Birds pecked nearly 70% of the fruit; snails covered tree trunks and leaves, which reduced the tree's ability to bear fruit; wild wolves crossed the fence and killed hundreds of chickens... Alen's death made this Everything is worse. Grief over the loss of a dear friend and anger at being overwhelmed puts the farm just on track into crisis. Whenever they try to improve, it's as if they're creating the perfect habitat for the next enemy. Alen once said that things like this will eventually reach a balance. But they don't know how to achieve this balance. What does perfect harmony look like?
When a wolf crossed the fence and attacked the chicks again, John finally couldn't take it anymore, he picked up the shotgun, aimed at the wolf, and the wolf fell down with a gunshot. John later said, "With the fall of the wolf, a part of my beliefs, and the uncompromising force of idealism, that brought us to this most wonderful place in life, also disappeared." Wolf, kill it. When the problem cannot be solved, the sense of disorder and loss of control strikes again and again, fear prevails, the original intention is betrayed, control and forced intervention are like a life-saving straw, and become the only way of action. This fatal shot killed the wolf who was stealing chicken, and it also shattered his unshakable belief that the ideal that he had sworn to imitate the operation of natural ecosystems collapsed. There are always such disillusioned moments in life, plucking up the courage to go to the ideal place, often habitually returning to the old way because of the fear of the unknown. However, we still have a choice, whether to turn back and follow the old path, or take courage and embark on the journey again.
A wolf, chasing a gopher along a fence, was hit by an irrigation belt and broke his neck. Seeing this scene, John finally got an epiphany that made his heart hurt: "The wolf may not be annoying, it may be our friend." Gophers can bring air to the soil, but too many gophers will chew on Eating the roots of crops; wild wolves focus on preying on gophers, which not only maintains the balance of gophers, but also reduces the possibility of attacking chickens... Every creature has its beneficial side.
By the seventh year, the creatures of the farm have reached a delicate balance, and a large group of "professionals" have arrived, each performing their duties. Harmony with the surroundings is not easy, it is more like a delicate and long dance. Alen once said, "After seven years, you will not be alone, you will be able to harness the forces of nature without breaking a sweat. Complexity, diversity, mutual support and reinforcement, and you will see an ecological web. "Cover crops brought life, and a process of hundreds of millions of years was awakened. On this tiny farm there are as many as nine billion microbes, nine billion microbes churning out decaying life forms. Purpose-driven organisms, transforming death into life, and energy circulates in this alternation of life.
John and Molly welcomed their other child on the farm. The puppy, Todd was very old, and when he died, John said: "The question of who saved whom is no longer a question. It led us into this interconnected and beautiful place, and it will now be Part of being here." The love for Todd that got them here; the love for the kids that kept them going.
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